CO-MANAGEMENT IN ABY LAGOON, CÔTE D'IVOIRE ANGAMAN KONAN Chief, Fisheries Project, Aby Lagoon, Côte d'Ivoire ABSTRACT Since 1995, an experiment on co-management of fisheries has been carried out in the Aby Lagoon (Côte d'Ivoire). The process is based on a consensual definition of the rules of management and the setting up of organizational structures (fishing committees) ready to work with government agencies to achieve common goals. The preliminary results show that fishermen are conscious of their duties. They are available to involve themselves in an active and efficient way. The structure of exchange (communication) created for this purpose ensures satisfying participation of all. The bioeconomic impacts of the co-management can already be seen. Though these positive results are beneficial to the whole community, some fishermen (the owners of beach seines) pay heavy taxes, and that leads to their opposition against the innovation. The process of co-management has favored the supervision of the resources rather than their management in an extensive way. Consequently, women are not consulted in the decision-making process. The takeover of the process by the users (which goes on slowly) to be sustained requires the formalization of enabling instruments such as laws, to strengthen the status of the committees, among other things. Introduction The Oceanographic Research Center (CRO) has undertaken some work on Aby Lagoon in order to gather the necessary information to answer the questions asked by managers, decisionmakers, planners and aid donors concerned with fishery development. The focus of these researches was the halieutic biology, i.e., the biology of the species and evaluation of the resource. Fisheries management took into account the resource only. One must recognize that this way of dealing with the problems of fishery management did not present entirely satisfying results. The repeated crisis of over-exploitation (1983 and 1987) and the open conflict (1990) between the Aby Lagoon population and the Project for the Development of Artisanal Fishery are illustrations. The strictly resource-based fishery management seemed to have not considered the social aspect; it was treated as an independent variable (Y. Breton and C.M. Diaw 1992). Generally, the involvement of the authorities (a strongly centralized administration) in the development process seemed to give an opposite effect since the beneficiaries of the development were very often not consulted. On the one hand, the administration with the backing of the Project's technical services had enough financial resources to impose their own policy of fisheries management. On the other hand, users unilaterally imposed their own way of management. The resultant conflict led to a breakdown in communications between the Aby Lagoon people and the Project for two years (1990-1992), hence interrupting the Project's activities. In 1992, an analysis of the situation led to the setting up of new strategies to deal with the fisheries management, but this time taking into account the social aspect. That new approach aimed at giving the fishermen real participation in the management of the halieutic resource. Even though this new strategy went on slowly, it responded to the goal of the national policy of decentralization and devolution. Proceedings of the International Workshop on Fisheries Co-management 1 In 1995, participative management was initiated on Aby Lagoon within the framework of the existing fisheries administration which was being rejected by the users (Kponhassia and Konan 1996). Despite initial resistance, the approach was pursued. The present study therefore aims at doing a first evaluation. The document consists of four parts: • the first part deals with the demographic and physical geography of the Aby Lagoon complex; • the second part deals with the fishery on Aby Lagoon and the economic characteristics; • the third part accounts for the actions undertaken in the co-management and the most relevant bioeconomic result; • the fourth part deals with the durability of the system. Materials and Method Three main complementary tools were used to gather both the qualitative and quantitative data. Documented Information The Aby Lagoon is one of the most documented Ivorian lagoons. The Oceanographic Research Center (CRO) has been conducting research on it since 1980. The Project for the Development of Artisanal Fishery on Aby Lagoon likewise made many studies on it. All this documentation taken collectively has been used to assist in the present study. Semi-structured Interviews The semi-structured interviews have been organized with three social groups: the cantonal fishery committee on Aby Lagoon, three village committees and three groups of women fishsmokers and sellers in three villages. The three villages have been chosen for the following reasons: • Etuéboué: very involved in the co-management system because it is the cantonal district and recognized as the main instigator of the 1990s events. Before the beginning of the present co- operation, two tendencies could be distinguished: the youths were totally hostile to the restarting of the activities of the Fisheries Office, whereas the elders were favorable to a reconciliation through a conditioned co-operation (Kponhassia 1994). • Epleman: fishermen in this village have very often been victims of the 1995 seminar's resolutions. The inhabitants feel oppressed by the rest of the population. It has been noticed that because of that situation, the village fishery committee is very lax. • Assomlan: the committee of this village has been renewed and works hard. Their bay which was very degraded has since regained its vitality with a rapid reconstitution of the resource within six months. There were immediate financial outcomes for the village. The choice of the social groups is based on the recognition by the village community of their role in the process of co-management. However, the women who are very isolated in the present process have been interviewed separately from the men. It is worth mentioning that 63 people have been interviewed. Inquiries The advantage of the semi-structured interviews is to sort out the tendencies of the dominant groups since the social structures of the lagoon population are based on a very strong hierarchical system and the fact that the gerontocratic power counts alot. On the other hand, the individual interviews allow for popular expression and is therefore very democratic. They took place in the 12 main villages of Aby Lagoon. In each village, three types of people have been interviewed: Proceedings of the International Workshop on Fisheries Co-management 2 • The fishermen: they consist of two groups, those who directly take part in the management of the committees (5 fishermen) representing 20%, those who are not committee staff members (10 fishermen) representing 40%. • The notables: five (5) notables representing 20% including the village chief, have been interviewed; • The “transformers” or processors: five (5) women fishsmokers representing 20% have been interviewed per village. Three hundred (300) questionnaires have since been received and processed by the ACCESS computer software. The Aby Lagoon The Aby Lagoon (Figure 1) is one of the three Ivoirian lagoon systems (Ebrié, Grand-Lahou and Aby) which covers some 300 km of the coastline. Each has access to the sea and is connected to one another via channels (Durand et Chantraine 1982). Fig. 1. The three Ivoirian lagoonal syste Proceedings of the International Workshop on Fisheries Co-management 3 The Aby Lagoon (Figure 2) is located in the far east of the littoral. Its median part forms a natural border between Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. It covers 30 km of the coastal line and extends over an area of 424 km2. The Aby Lagoon is between longitude 2°51' and 3°21' on the one hand and latitude 5°01' and 5°22' on the other (Chantraine 1980). The main Aby Lagoon, whose name has been given to the complex, is the most extended and covers 305 km2, it has a total shoreline of 24.5 km, and is 15.5 km at its widest. The Tendo Lagoon which is the median part of the complex, is more stretched, with a length of 22 km and varying width of between 1.5 km and 3.5 km. Its surface is 74 km2 The Ehy Lagoon which is more towards the eastern side, has a basin form and a surface area of 45 km2. Hydrology The Aby Lagoon is supplied with fresh water by the rivers Bia in the northwest and Tanoé in the east. These two main coastal river regimes depend on the rainfall of the southern forested region. Both the marine and fresh waters have a common influence on some physical and chemical parameters, including the salinity. This salinity depends on the importance of the water supply which varies according to the season. During the dry season, the marine influence is maximum and the salinity at the surface is higher with an average of 14%. This salinity decreases according to a south-north gradient to subsequently become very weak, even nonexistent at the level of the channel. The southern part of Aby Lagoon is always high in salinity as a result of direct influence of the sea. The northern area of Aby lagoon is free of salt, even fresh at the level of its encounter with the Bia river. The Tendo area in turn has a salinity that is permanently weak, between 0% and 2%. In Ehy area, under the strong influence of the Tanoé river, the waters remain fresh throughout the year. The degrees of salinity are low between the months of August to December and high from January to April, with a peak in March-April followed by a second less saline month in August. That spatial variation of salinity explains the distribution of the fish species, especially that of the Ethmalosa fimbriata. Ichtyofauna The population of ichtyofauna in the Aby Lagoon has been estimated at around 60 species (Daget and Iltis 1965).